My mum—“She Who Must Be Obeyed”—divorced when I was five and took me with her to England. My dad remained in Tanzania, working for East African Airways. Every school break, Dad sent me free tickets home. But for my seventeenth birthday, he outdid himself:...

Fat Charlie, the Archangel, sloped into the room. “Have I got good news for you! A job that’ll pay you five thousand dollars a month.” To his associates, Charlie was regarded more as a grey angel — if not a black one. Imagine a super-sized Father Christmas: white hair...

Last Monday, I went to get a haircut. Beside me sat a little boy perched on a wooden plank bridging the arms of the barber’s chair. It was his first haircut. How did I know? Because his parents were flitting round and round him, taking photos from every angle. I...

My favourite dates come from Sukkari, and they were running out. Time to buy some more.Off-season in Calgary — that is, after Ramadan — you can only purchase them from Basha International Supermarket in the northeast, the bastion of our Asian and Middle Eastern...

At one time, Calgary, Canada, boasted the largest Scrabble club in North America. It was all due to Siri, who started it with a group of six British ex-pats like me. Siri became an evangelist for the game. “We’ll turn our membership into a hundred within the year,” he...

My first morning at Griffith Miles Sully & Co. was spent peering over a pristine desk, robbed of its usual mess of working papers and the obelisk of files piled this way or that — the epitome of a public accountant. No one came to supervise or run through any work...

At my previous firm, where I’d started in accounting, punctuality had been drilled into me. Consequently, I arrived at my new employer, Griffith Miles Sully & Co., shortly before 9 a.m. Instead of a converted Victorian house, I was installed on the second floor of...

“Sorry, we don’t employ trainee accountants.” Thus began my twenty-minute interview with Mr Griffith, the senior partner of Griffith Miles Sully & Company. I was desperate. My current employer was about to give me the sack. If that happened, I would never qualify...

My luck had finally run out. After completing 106 consecutive weekly analects/blogs, I hit a brick wall. Every analect posted attracted a raft of reader comments ranging from “Loved it”, to “Couldn’t understand it”, to “Your worst yet”. But each had one component: my...

At the top of the steep stone steps, a large, ornate stone arch greeted us – the Puerta de Toledo – one of several gates converging onto the Plaza Puerta del Sol, the grandest of Madrid’s squares. Once again, the scene teemed with tourists. Everyone barged into each...